Episodes
Monday Jul 20, 2020
Monday Jul 20, 2020
Every week on The Twilight Zone Zone,we go down Donald Liebenson’s list The 26 Episodes We Talk About When We Talk About The Twilight Zone from Vanity Fair, chronologically by release date and compare two episodes and choose which one to recommend. This week we watched “Five Characters in Search of an Exit” and “Nothing in the Dark.”
“Five Characters in Search of an Exit”
The setup is a little bit Saw and a little bit Waiting for Godot: an Army major (William Windom) finds himself in a circular enclosure with no doors, no windows, and no ceiling. He has no idea who he is or how he got there. And he’s not alone; present, but more resigned to their situations, are a clown, a ballerina, a hobo, and a bagpiper. This episode gives new meaning to the eternal question, “Why are we here?” Your mileage may vary as to the ultimate answer, but the questions posed (“How long will we be here?” “What’s up there?”) are profound in or out of The Twilight Zone.
“Nothing in the Dark”
Many actors got their start on the Zone—none more famously than Robert Redford, who appears here as a policeman who is shot outside of the door of an elderly woman who refuses to leave her condemned apartment for fear of being taken by “Mr. Death.” For more before-they-were-big moments, see Robert Duvall in “Miniature,” Burt Reynolds in “The Bard,” and Charles Bronson in “Two.”
There are many paths in life, but which one will you travel down in the Twilight Zone, Zone…
Host: Nic Hoffmann
Panel: Matthew, Jeremy and Daniel
Friday Jul 17, 2020
Predator 2
Friday Jul 17, 2020
Friday Jul 17, 2020
This week on Myopia Movies, we watched Danny Glover clean up the streets, which, I assume, is why he is the President in 2012. We watched Predator 2, why did Men in Black not star Gary Busey?
If you have not yet, check out the Patreon! We have old episodes and special episodes that are exclusive! Check in to hear us talk about the Alien franchise!
In the meantime, please continue to rate and review us! We are on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and now Spotify and could use the support; the more ratings you give the easier it is for others to find us. Also, do you follow us elsewhere? Facebook? Twitter? Myopia? Also, for those of you who are truly film folks, I have created a Letterboxd page! Check out what episodes we have done here (including Predator!)
How will Predator 2 stand when we put it on trial?
Host: Nic
Panel: Daniel and Matthew
Monday Jul 13, 2020
Monday Jul 13, 2020
Every week on The Twilight Zone Zone,we go down Donald Liebenson’s list The 26 Episodes We Talk About When We Talk About The Twilight Zone from Vanity Fair, chronologically by release date and compare two episodes and choose which one to recommend. This week we watched “Deaths-Head Revisited” and "The Midnight Son"
The Obsolete Man”/“Deaths-Head Revisited”
A tie: these are two Serling-penned episodes whose messages feel distressingly relevant. In the first, Burgess Meredith stars as a librarian deemed obsolete by the totalitarian state and sentenced to death, though he gets to choose his manner of execution. In the second, a former SS captain returns to Dachau, where he encounters a former prisoner. These episodes are Serling at his most impassioned. When it comes to ideologies that fail to recognize the rights and dignity of man, or a race determined to “turn the Earth into a graveyard,” metaphor alone won’t cut it.
“The Midnight Sun”
The Earth has changed its elliptical orbit and is headed toward the sun. In an abandoned New York apartment building, two women try to stave off their fate and retain their humanity. This is one of the most viscerally felt Twilight Zone episodes. You jump when a precious can of fruit juice is accidentally dropped; you sweat when the power operating the air conditioning is shut off; and you melt like paint on a canvas as a thermometer shatters. And then comes the episode’s switcheroo, which is so, so cold.
There are many paths in life, but which one will you travel down in the Twilight Zone, Zone…
Host: Nic Hoffmann
Panel: Matthew and Daniel
Friday Jul 10, 2020
Austin Powers (Preview)
Friday Jul 10, 2020
Friday Jul 10, 2020
Hello there! For our Patreon supporters, we have covered for Mission Briefing Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery! Enjoy a sample here, but if you are interested in the whole thing and the back-catalog, and our Alien series, join us!
In the meantime, please continue to rate and review us! We are on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and now Spotify and could use the support; the more ratings you give the easier it is for others to find us. Also, do you follow us elsewhere? Facebook? Twitter? Myopia? Also, for those of you who are truly film folks, I have created a Letterboxd page! Check out what episodes we have done here (including other movies with kids playing sports like Rookie of the Year (1993) and The Mighty Ducks (1992))
How will Austin Powers stand when we put it on trial?
Host: Jon
Panel: Nic and Daniel
Thursday Jul 09, 2020
The Twilight Zone Zone - Episode 10: "The Grave” and “It’s a Good Life”
Thursday Jul 09, 2020
Thursday Jul 09, 2020
Every week on The Twilight Zone Zone,we go down Donald Liebenson’s list The 26 Episodes We Talk About When We Talk About The Twilight Zone from Vanity Fair, chronologically by release date and compare two episodes and choose which one to recommend. This week we watched "The Grave” and “It’s a Good Life”
“The Grave”
Months before Lee Marvin, Strother Martin, and Lee Van Cleef starred in John Ford’s classic Western The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, they co-starred in this episode, a Western ghost story (ghostern?) about a gunman who is dared to make a midnight visit to the grave of the freshly gunned-down killer he relentlessly pursued but failed to capture. It boasts a great script, eerie atmosphere, and Lee Marvin at his Lee Marvin-est (“I don’t get my nerve from this gun . . . I had it long before I could even pick one of them up”). And the ending is a real grabber.
“It’s a Good Life”
The twist is revealed right up top: the monster who has made the world go away, save for his rural Ohio village, is a six-year-old boy (Bill Mumy) who can read thoughts, control even the weather with his mind, and transform those who would wish him harm into “grotesque walking horror.” Demon kids are always creepy, but this episode plays like the ultimate nightmare of a society destroyed by the spoiled children of overindulgent parents. (Yes, The Simpsons did this one, too, with Bart as the monster.)
There are many paths in life, but which one will you travel down in the Twilight Zone, Zone…
Host: Nic Hoffmann
Panel: Matthew and Daniel
Tuesday Jun 30, 2020
Prometheus (Preview)
Tuesday Jun 30, 2020
Tuesday Jun 30, 2020
This week we leave the traditional Alien Franchise, but return to the sweet and confident embrace of Ridley Scott for an art film with a bonkers ending.
Host: Nic
Panel: Jeremy, Daniel
Monday Jun 29, 2020
The Twilight Zone Zone - Episode 9: “The Obsolete Man” and “A Game of Pool”
Monday Jun 29, 2020
Monday Jun 29, 2020
Every week on The Twilight Zone Zone,we go down Donald Liebenson’s list The 26 Episodes We Talk About When We Talk About The Twilight Zone from Vanity Fair, chronologically by release date and compare two episodes and choose which one to recommend. This week we watched “The Obsolete Man” and “A Game of Pool”
“The Obsolete Man”
Burgess Meredith stars as a librarian deemed obsolete by the totalitarian state and sentenced to death, though he gets to choose his manner of execution.
“A Game of Pool”
A sure-bet episode featuring two stellar performances by Jack Klugman and Jonathan Winters, playing it straight and cool as the late “Fats” Brown, a champion pool player who takes Klugman’s Randolph Street pool jockey at his word when he says he would do anything for just one game against the dead legend. This episode boasts some great dialogue (“Nothing’s impossible; some things are less likely than others”), and sage observations about the risks needed to become a champion and the responsibilities of carrying on a legacy.
There are many paths in life, but which one will you travel down in the Twilight Zone, Zone…
Host: Nic Hoffmann
Panel: Matthew, Jeremy and Daniel
Thursday Jun 25, 2020
Little Giants
Thursday Jun 25, 2020
Thursday Jun 25, 2020
This week on Myopia: Defend Your Childhood, we watch Ed O'Neill fight Rick Moranis and we all learn a little something about....well, I could have sworn I learned something....We saw Little Giants, do you think nicknaming a preteen girl "Ice Box" could lead to neurosis?
If you have not yet, check out the Patreon! We have old episodes and special episodes that are exclusive! Check in to hear us talk about the Alien franchise!
In the meantime, please continue to rate and review us! We are on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and now Spotify and could use the support; the more ratings you give the easier it is for others to find us. Also, do you follow us elsewhere? Facebook? Twitter? Myopia? Also, for those of you who are truly film folks, I have created a Letterboxd page! Check out what episodes we have done here (including other movies with kids playing sports like Rookie of the Year (1993) and The Mighty Ducks (1992))
How will Little Giants hold up when we put it on trial?
Host: Nic
Panel: Daniel, Lauren and Matthew
Myopia Movies
Welcome to Season 11 of Myopia Movies! Each week, we dive back into the iconic films of the ’80s and ’90s that defined our youth, questioning the nostalgia and Blockbuster-induced myths we’ve held onto for decades. Do these classics truly hold up, or were our memories just playing tricks on us? Tune in as we put our childhood favorites to the ultimate test!